Letter: Where's the novel on NRA's demise?

To the editor

Published 12:11 am, Sunday, December 30, 2012

Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta

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A protestor holds a banner during a march to the National Rifle Association headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. Curbing gun violence will be a top priority of President Barack Obama's second term, aides say. but exactly what he'll pursue and how quickly are still evolving. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) less

A protestor holds a banner during a march to the National Rifle Association headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. Curbing gun violence will be a top priority of President Barack ... more

Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta

Letter: Where's the novel on NRA's demise?

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In 1994, a satirical novel, "Thank You for Smoking," by Christopher Buckley, followed the efforts of Big Tobacco as it tried spinning its way out of stronger government regulation for years of intentionally misrepresenting tobacco's ghastly impact on human health.

Although a funny read, you couldn't help but think about the real efforts of the Tobacco Institute, an organization funded by the tobacco industry to shield makers of Camel, Marlboro, and other cigarette brands from government regulation. "Independent" research papers were regularly commissioned by the institute, but the products were dubious at best, outright lies at worst.

A 1979 report "Smoking and Health 1964-1979 — The Continuing Controversy" complained that a preoccupation with the health effects of smoking was unfounded and dangerous because there were many other reasons for cancers found in smokers.

Does that sound eerily similar to what we're hearing from the National Rifle Association in the aftermath of yet another gun tragedy in our nation? In response to the Newtown, Conn., massacre, the NRA cites a number of reasons for the murders — genuine monsters live among us, a declining willingness to prosecute dangerous criminals, effects of violent video games and slasher films, and the national media acting as silent enablers by not covering the real stories.

These reasons aren't backed by "independent" research like that conducted by the former Tobacco Institute, just NRA spin doctor Wayne LaPierre's tired hyperbole.

"Thank You for Smoking" was published before the collapse of the Tobacco Institute and the tobacco master settlement agreement. Yet it seems to have prophesied the collapse of the tobacco industry as we knew it.

I haven't heard of a similar novel in the works that would follow the work of the NRA and its pending demise. But many in our country, including me, are ready to read it.